Progression to Revelation
by Dracones
Summary: After the Betrayal, Spyro, Cynder, Sparx, Hunter and Meadow flee, to roam the valleys evading Cyril's forces, with the Heroes' four hatchlings in tow. Tharusio, Frae, and Listron think they have the perfect life, but Nayit knows better. When the group meet unusual allies, everyone thinks things are perfect: again, he suspects otherwise. Sequel to Betrayal of Heroes, book 2/6.
1. Chapter 1

Legend of Spyro: Series: Below Zero. (Shifting Fortunes trilogy.)

Book 2: Progression to Revelation.

Okay, this is the start of the second book in my six-book series Below Zero, and the sequel to Betrayal of Heroes. In case any of you forgot the setup of the series, here's a reminder. If you're new to this, it's best to read Betrayal of Heroes first, to prevent confusion, and this is how I'm setting out the books..

Legend of Spyro: Below Zero: Series.

Six books, eleven chapters in each. Split into two sort of trilogies.

* * *

Trilogy 1: Shifting Fortunes.

BOOK 1: BETRAYAL OF HEROES, BOOK 2: PROGRESSION TO REVELATION, BOOK 3: RECOVERY OF THE RETREATED.

Trilogy 2: Collaborative Glory.

BOOK 4: UNITED WE FALL, BOOK 5: DIVIDED WE STAND, and BOOK 6: TOGETHER WE CONQUER.

* * *

Also, before I start this, I want to share with you this brilliant quote:

Fanfiction is what literature might look like if it was reinvented from scratch after a nuclear apocalypse by a band of brilliant poop-culture junkies trapped in a sealed bunker. They don't do it for money. That's not what it's about. The writers write it and put it online just for the satisfaction. The culture talks to them, and they talk back to it in its own language. They're fans, but they're not the silent, couchbound consumers of media.

So, with the formalities over and done with:

* * *

PROGRESSION TO REVELATION

* * *

Chapter One: The Passage of Time.

**Time: The continuing and unlimited progress of existance and events in the past, present, and future. (My answer whenever someone asks, 'What's the time?')**

Where the valleys died, subsiding to a plain grassland at the last step of their range, a stream of water trickled weakly downwards, only to pool into a small pond at the very bottom of its slope. The trees swayed in the wind, the worn bark of a fallen tree trunk was a strangely comforting sight. The pond seemed still; fresh water, but devoid of much life in and around, and for a reason. Several reasons in fact, four of which were speeding towards the area as fast as they could, and creating quite a noise while they were at it.

"I told you! I told you!"

"That's not fair! You cheated and used your wings!"

"Come on! I might as well use my advantage!"

"He's right, Frae. In a fight, anything goes."

"Like this?"

"Hey! Now THAT's not fair!" An orange-brown dragon, about eight years of age, fell into the clearing around the pool, a black dragon on top of him. Her build was noticeably smaller than his, despite the fact that they were the same age. She had six small, hard too see, black horns, which could come in as a surprise advantage in a fight. His two were larger and brown, but blunter than hers. His eyes were a bright yellow, her irises a sparkling green. However, both irises, if examined closely, could be seen to have a slight rim of purple. Of the wing membranes, his were the yellow of his eyes, hers a sheen of silvery-grey.

When he rolled and landed on top of her, she squealed, immediately letting go. Both got to their feet, glaring playfully.

Behind the two, emerged a young dragoness, with scales a shade of cyan, never quite descernable whether blue or green. It seemed to shift from one second to the next. Her two horns were pure white, of an average size. She was of middling build, between the other two, and she was shaking her head at them.

"Brilliant. This started out as a race and ended as a fight."

The black dragoness just laughed, "Listron, come on, we're just playing. In fact," she said, sneaking a glance to the orangey dragon, "we could play with you as well."

Grinning, the small brawl forgotten, the two advanced on Listron, whose eyes lit up, even as she backed away. She called out in mock fear, "Nayit! Help!" The other two glanced around, momentarily wondering where the fourth of them was. But he was nowhere to be seen.

"Nayit?"

"Nayit!"

"Anything goes!" The cry came from above them, and a blur dropped onto the back of the orange dragon. A yell of victory came from the now stationary blur. "Got you that time, Tharusio!" The orange dragon attempted to roll to remove Nayit from his back, but the other dragon jumped when he felt the movement and landed on the floor. He stuck his tongue out. "Why are you rolling around in the dirt like that? I haven't beaten you yet, so are you rolling in preparation?"

The new dragon was relatively slender for a male. His horns, claws, and wing membranes were a light red. At first glance, his scales seemed to be white, but it would quickly become visible that that was not all there was to it. At the tail end of each individual scale, it steadily changed colour, becoming the same red as were his horns. The effect was more pronounced towards his tail end. His eyes were extremely unusual. Outwards from the pupil, they were white, then grew red, and, like all the rest, he sported the same purple rim around the irises, and from there on they were just white, creating a mysterious effect in all. He had five horns, four gracefully curving backwards, one shorter horn poking forwards above his eyes.

Tharusio, the orange, stood up, challenge and puzzlement on his face simultaneously. "Did you fly to get above me, or what?"

"Noticed the trees? Remember when we first used to come here, there were squirrels climbing them all the time. They left when we hunted them though."

The black dragoness nodded. "That was fun... But now, we hunt each other!"

Tharusio smirked playfully, "Squirrels were more of a challenge than you, Frae."

"Yes, because they climbed trees," Nayit said, speaking over joking growls from his sisters. "Since then, I'd been trying it myself whenever I could. It isn't too hard." Tharusio glanced up at the rather thin canopy of branches himself, before walking up to the nearest one.

Listron gasped. "Tharusio! What if you fall?!"

"I can glide now, can't I?"

Nayit sighed. "He won't stop, and we all know that, but be warned, Tharusio. You'll be lucky for a proper fall."

"What?"

Nayit just shrugged off the question. "You'll see..." Growling, Tharusio strode up to the nearest, a beech.

"Good luck Tharusio!" Frae called, the other two mumbling agreement.

Tharusio nodded, and put his claws to the tree. He tried to dig them in, but the tree was tough. He twisted his paws from left to right, trying to make a handhold, and barely scratched the surface. Anger flamed up at the tree, and he hit it as hard as he could, but still nothing happened.

He tried grasping the tree next, rearing up, wrapping his forelimbs around it and pulling, but to no avail. His claws slipped and slid over the surface. Growing yet more irritated, he went onto all fours again and lashed out for the tree.

His claws ripped off a tiny chunk of the tree, but just a sliver of bark would not get him up.

Irritated at himself, he turned to Nayit again. "How did you do that?!" But Nayit could't answer for a while, as both he and their sisters were chortling at the sight of Tharusio's struggles.

"I'll demonstrate," he finally struggled out, making his way up to a tree, likewise a beech. He glanced up it for a second and, satisfied, lurched onto his hind legs, resting his paws on the trunk. He shuffled forwards, took a long breath, and jumped up, wings folded.

He grasped fully around the trunk as much as he could with all four legs, trying to get a good grip. Once he was satisfied, his siblings watched in tense admiration as he shifted his paws little by little, gaining height as he progressed up the trunk.

He ignored the first branch he met, which was from the looks of it little more than a shoot, but when he reached the second, which was far thicker, he placed one paw, then, one by one, the others, onto the branch. He raised his head to the air, victoriously. "Easy!" he declared, lookng down at the others.

Listron stared, Frae cheered, but Tharusio looked puzzled. "How did you do that so much better than me? I'm bigger, and stronger. Is it in the technique?"

Nayit opened his mouth to answer, but a voice from above even him cut him off quickly and scathingly. "No, it's not to do with technique, nor strength, nor even skill. His was a victory due to observation."

The head of a dragonfly poked over a platform of wood, which was planted higher up in the branches. They all grinned up at him. "Hey uncle Sparx!"

Sparx smiled back and greeted them properly, before continuing. "As you can see, this is where I rest most of the time, but there has to be a way to get me up. Which is what Nayit saw. The cheetahs carved steps into this particular tree, to build the platform in the first place. He got up by holding them from the other side."

Tharusio grinned, but Nayit groaned. "Sparx! I was going to tell them that it was raw talent!"

"And would that have been the truth?"

"No, but Tharusio's reaction would be funny!"

"Oi!"

"See what I mean?"

"Never mind that, I want to climb this tree!"

"Frae! One dragon was enough, but any more would shake me off this thing!"

"How about we all go up?"

"Oh yeah, just because you think you can do it now, Tharusio. I vote he stays here, and we climb. After all, if Sparx is right, someone will have to catch him. Might as well be the one who can actually fly."

"I can glide, not fly, as you well know."

"Same difference."

"I agree with Nayit, someone has to catch Sparx."

"Hey! Listron!"

"I don't really mind, I just want to climb."

"That's two against one out of those who care, Tharusio. You're outvoted."

"Hey! Do I not get a say? I'm the one who could fall here!"

"Not really, you're the smallest, and we never get a say in-"

"Are you lot all tormenting your uncle?"

THAT stopped the discussion in its tracks.

The young dragons turned as Hunter and Meadow entered the clearing. Both carried bows, but Hunter had always been most proficient, and he was the one with a deer slung over his back. Meadow, on the other hand, had his usual pouch for fetching herbs that could be used for anything from medicine to flavourings, or even just tasted nice on their own. The healer had a grin on his face; the hunter a frown.

"Do you really think that he appreciates that sort of thing? Because I don't. In fact, he never has. Even as babies you ran rings round him-"

"Literally," giggled Frae.

"And your parents never liked it either. Where are they anyway?"

The youngsters chorused, "Hunting and patroling, so we can do what we want if we don't go too far."

But Tharusio added at the end, "Though patroling's useless. Nothing bad comes near us anyway."

Hunter frowned, "Have you ever considered that that's because they're patroling?"

Tharusio shrugged. "You've told us the stories of the Dark Master, but he's dead now, and these Ice dragon things seem pretty pathetic if they can't find us when we only ever go to ten different places."

"Tharusio, most people don't even live in two places. We change positions so much because the Ice dragons would notice if patrols of them kept vanishing from the same area."

"Why would their patrols be vanishing where we move to?" Tharusio questioned.

"Because we move there, Tharusio," Nayit said solemnly. "Haven't you noticed?"

"Noticed what?"

Nayit glanced to Frae and Listron, but they too shrugged. His eyes found Tharusio's again, and both pairs of eyes grew serious as he spoke.

"Noticed the way mum and dad clear everything we touch away when we leave a place, and when we come back next year things are slightly different. The way that, sometimes, they come home with blood on their claws and wounds on their flanks. The way the glance around all the time, alert for anything to happen."

Tharusio was speechless, but Frae managed to stutter, "What does it mean?"

Nayit's voice grew cold. "It means that they're putting themselves on the line, in order to keep us safe in seclusion."

"What!" Listron exclaimed. "But they might get hurt!"

"But you might get hurt, young ones," Meadow explained, kneeling down. He had always sympathized with them more than Hunter. "That's why they're away for so long. They're protecting us all. You understand? They love you, and don't want you to be hurt."

All together, the youngsters said, "We understand."

And Nayit sadly said, under his breath, "I always did."

* * *

Two weeks later, they headed off again; Sparx resting on Hunter's head, the others all walking. There was a cool breeze, as autumn had set in; around the horse chestnut treees, the spiky-shelled conkers were trodden on and thrown by the youngsters in abundance. Tharusio and Frae were the most involved, taking hits willingly and dealing them too, while Listron was more cautious, dodging anything that came her way. Comparitively, Nayit sought to isolate himself from the action, driving any attackers back with well-aimed shells as he backed off, wanting to speak to his parents. As he saw a stray shell hit Meadow, and the cheetah pick it up and throw it back, he seemed to have been forgotten, and he hurried onwards to catch up to Spyro and Cynder.

They were at the top of the next hill, side by side, staring into the distance. Nayit, feeling suddenly awkward, shuffled sideways before continuing straight on, to get his own view of the territory ahead.

There was a great plain, not grassland, in fact, it was clear of all grass and greenery for large areas. The first city Nayit had ever seen rose up from the ground there, at the base of a hill of large size. Massive walls surrounded buildings that seemed to be newly built, for simple purposes. Housing and fortification. Other buildings, decorated and glamorous, rose above them, but they were few and far between now. Dozens of dragons, all the same light blue colour, were assembled above the city and on its walls.

Beside Nayit, and unaware of his presence, Cynder said, "There must be a hundred there, and that's just the active watch. What could make their full numbers?"

Spyro slowly stated, "There should generally be four watches of equal size, so four hundred, possibly, though knowing Cyril he'll have them in three shifts, or even two, so a minimum of two hundred. Plus those he'll have patroling, so maybe twice that overall, at the minimum."

"Four to six hundred..."

Nayit had spoken without thinking of the fact that he wasn't supposed to be listening.

Both his parents turned towards him sharply. "Nayit!" Cynder exclaimed. "I thought you were playing with your siblings!"

"I wanted to ask you something."

"What?" Spyro inquired.

Nayit got straight to the point. "When will we learn our elements? When will you teach us them? You are heroes, you've fought monsters and saved the world. We are your children, and we don't have the first clue about any of that. I feel that I've been treated as not worth teaching about fighting, no matter how much I read or write under Meadow's tuition. He can't teach us to be dragons, but you're always out patroling. I know just how useful it is, believe you me, but I feel left out. Like I don't have a part in all this." He spread his wings wide towards the other dragons and the city, red rays of sun finding their ways through the membranes in a strange light before folding them again. "It's like I've got wings, but I can't fly. Which isn't just a metaphor, mum, dad; that's true too. I'm an earthbound reptile with no element and few life skills. I might as well be a newborn gecko."

He hadn't meant for all that to come out the way it did, but it happened. As Nayit stared, downcast, at his forepaws, he felt not like they'd scorned him, but he'd spurned them. And it was not a nice feeling.

He heard them quickly talking, one, then the other, but wasn't concentrating on hearing the words. He was just wondering what the punishment for eavesdropping, butting in on a conversation whilst stating the obvious, and complaining about the way he'd been raised was. Eventually, they came to a decision, as the conversation stopped, and Nayit looked up to see them with apologetic expressions on their faces.

"Nayit," Cynder began, "we're sorry. We did what we thought was best for you. But it turns out that we were restraining you all."

"I guess we're still new to this sort of thing," joked Spyro. "But if it's what you want, we'll talk to the others, and-"

But Nayit interrupted, "No, don't." With a sigh and a glance behind him, he said, "I think I'm the only one who can see it. They're perfectly content; I didn't know, but they hadn't even noticed the scratches you two pick up on your 'patrols' before I told them. And even that they act like they forget."

"That's the sort of thing you want to forget if you learn it," Cynder said, glancing at Spyro. "You're sure?"

Nayit nodded. "I've been watching, but they haven't."

"Then what do you want us to do?" she inquired.

Nayit licked his lips nervously, unsure about making the decision for his siblings. "Let them live as they are for now, in blissful ignorance, until either they start to see the forest for the trees or it's about time we actually grew up a bit."

His parents glanced to each other, and nodded solemnly. "When you're all around twelve, we'll start teaching you," Spyro said. "That was my age when I first learnt my elements." Nayit nodded.

"Until then, then, this never happened," the young dragon said, then he turned sharply, heading back to the lighthearted fight of the conkers.

Spyro and Cynder looked out to Warfang, then backed away from the sight, getting out of view of any observant watchers.

As the headed off, Spyro stopped to think. "What in the world did he mean when he said he knew exactly how useful the patrols were?"

* * *

_It was a winter night when it had happened._

_The four-year-olds were curled up, listening to Meadow tell them how their parents had saved the world. Outside, a blizzard raged, but their attentions were turned inwards, apart from Hunter, who vigilantly kept watch outside, and, though no-one noticed it, Nayit. Pretending to listen, though he already knew the story, he stared outwards from the corner of his eye. The swirling snow captivated him as the story captivated his siblings. Sometimes, strange forms would seem to appear in it, only to be knocked aside by others with the roar and the whistle of the wind._

_It entranced him like nothing else._

_As they reached the climax of the story, however, the reuniting of the world, and both Frae and Listron declared as loudly and cutely as possible, 'I'm gonna be a hero too,' which drew even Hunter's gaze and laugh, Nayit was even more lost in what he saw. Two more forms clashed outside, one darker than the other. Caught in the display of natural wonder, at the only time he wouldn't have been noticed, the white dragon tinted red walked out of the cave, gaze turned upwards._

_But as he drew closer, the shapes didn't vanish, and became recognisable as dragons. The hatchling gasped at the sight, but the noise was carried away by the wind. He stumbled up to a rock on the edge of a steep cliff, to get a better look, and perched upon it, saw all._

_One of the dragons was his father, and he was ferociously battling the other, keeping him away from the direction of the cave. And as Nayit looked on, his mother rocketed from above, taking another ice-blue dragon with her. He heard the faint echoes of an ear-peircing scream from below, then a thud, then nothing, and his mother hurtled back towards the battle his father was fighting._

_Together, they quickly killed the dragon his father had fought, then flew off into the storm, leaving the corpse behind with the hatchling._

_Nayit reached the dragon after some struggling through the thick snowfall and pawed at it weakly. It was cold, but so was the little not-quite-white dragon. However, the larger dragon had a deep cut in its neck._

_Nayit nosed the dragon to get it to wake up, but soon realised that it wouldn't._

_The young dragon didn't cry, for the tears froze almost before leaving. Instead, he closed the other dragon's eyes, and snuck back to his position near the entrance to the cave. As he had blended in quite well with the snow, his departure had gone unnoticed, and Meadow was now talking of the Golem._

_Five minutes later, his parents returned._

_They said it was uneventful, but he saw the fresh gashes on their scales._

* * *

Now, they were about twelve. Cramming into the winter cave was harder, but just as necessary. But of the children, still only Nayit knew just how necessary. The others had caught the odd glimpse from afar, but never up close, and they hadn't seen a corpse. Even from the age of four, it was something you didn't forget. That was only proof of the quality of their parents' defense systems.

All nine of the group were huddled around a smallish fire. Hunter, Meadow, Sparx nearest to the flame, Frae, Tharusio, Listron, Nayit, Spyro, and Cynder. The latter two reclined near the entrances, close enough to take part in conversation, yet near enough to the entrance that they could exit and fight quickly. The rest were arrayed randomly around the fire. There were no tales; they had all been told and retold long ago. There was just silence as the group stared either at the fire or into the swirling winds. There was a blizzard again.

All of a sudden, the three that were staring outside jerked their heads upwards. With a glance between them, Spyro and Cynder stood. Spyro said, "We'll just check the surroundings, if we're lucky there may be some prey close by. We should be back soon."

Everyone around the fire nodded, with one exception. As they turned to head into the howling wind, a voice sounded behind them; calm and serious.

"When are you going to stop babying us?" The couple froze and slowly turned, looking at the speaker.

Nayit lay directly behind the fire, casting an odd glow onto his scales. His claws-longer and sharper now than the claws of hatchlings-were crossed in front of him. His chin rested on the deadly, eerie-red weapons, as he stared through the flames at his parents. His eyes, suddenly unnerving, stared into them with an intense glare.

Knowing what was to come, yet with no idea what else to say, Spyro asked, "What?"

"One thousand, five hundred and twenty two days ago, you told me that you'd teach us what you know of our elements, as we deserve, when we were around twelve. Today, as I recall, we are almost exactly twelve and a half. And really, so you know, twelve was quite a small limit anyway. It's been years, as I believe I pointed out last time."

A series of protests and exclamations came from the other six of the cave's inhabitants, most particularly Sparx. But Spyro waved a paw for them to stop.

"I understand why some of you are maybe surprised at this, or didn't realise quite the truth of our parenting skills, though I shall probably never understand why Sparx of all people is yelling about disrespect to superiors. But anyway, Nayit is entirely right. We should have started teaching you four how to survive years ago. We're sorry."

"We figured on protecting the innocent. Keeping you away from the horrors we experienced... and the ones we experience now. Nayit's caught us out on the patrols thing, but we shouldn't have kept you in the dark. You don't deserve that, and we're sorry, as Spyro said." Cynder's tone was full of genuine regret. Both her head and that of her mate were bowed. Their audience looked on in silence.

Nothing happened for a minute, as Meadow, Hunter, Sparx, Listron, Frae, and Tharusio glanced from Spyro, to Cynder, to Nayit, not necessarily in that order. The redish-white dragon was staring into the flames. He had waited over a thousand days and counted every one, but it took a bit out of him to say what he had been thinking for so long.

Eventually, he worked up the courage to look around himself, meeting each of their gazes one by one. His siblings looked surprised, Listron the least and Frae the most, Sparx seemed to be struggling with something, Hunter appeared like he was reevaluating the young dragon, while Meadow looked like he expected no less.

His parents were still stationary. He lifted his head to speak to them, but Spyro spoke up first. "We've neglected training you so far, so I personally figure we'd better start making up for lost time. It'll help in your training that we can use all the elements; seeking professional help from someone of a different element isn't possible right now. However, the first step is to identify your elements. Arise and step forwards, so we can make an adequate evaluation." He smiled slightly. "Not that we don't have our guesses already, but it's best to be thorough."

All four of the young dragons rose to their paws and stood still in front of their parents, who cast critical gazes over them. "Okay, we'll start from the right," Cynder said. "Orangey scales usually hint at a Fire dragon, Tharusio, but the bright yellow of your wings and eyes is more indicative of an Electricity dragon. However, overall, I would say that Fire is your most likely element."

With a tilted head, Spyro said, "Nayit, you're a hard one to evaluate. Your thin body frame and your predominantly white scales make you being a Wind dragon a distinct possibility. However, I've never seen a true Fear dragon; your claws, wings, and secondary scale colour all suggest that this is a possibility, though how great I don't know."

Taking her turn, Cynder stated, "Listron, even your scale colour is predominantly unclear. Your build, however, suggests that you are likely an Ice dragoness; however, it is uncertain. You may in fact, be a Earth dragon, due to the partly green colours of cyan."

"Finally, Frae," Spyro continued. "Your current most likely element is Shadow, as far as I can see. More than that, I cannot tell."

"So," declared Cynder, "the ones with rarer elements will train with me, the others, with Spyro."

"When do we start?" asked Frae, glancing around her siblings.

"As soon as we can," Spyro answered, "so Nayit and Listron, come outside, where we shall train you as well as we can in these circumstances. Sorry Tharusio, Frae, but their most likely elements are less distinctive in a blizzard, and their colours the same. Hunter, Meadow, will you watch over the other two? Tell them of times you've seen their elements in action and so on." The cheetahs nodded, and the four dragons went outside, into the wind and snow.

Inside, after they had gone from earshot, Sparx sighed. "Why do I only ever find out about things last?"

* * *

**So! I've been fairly ambiguous with their elemental capabilities, but here they are, Spyro and Cynder's children! Hope you like them! Now the question becomes; which elements do you guys think they should all be? And what did you think of the first chapter of Progression to Revelation?**

**I look forwards to your thoughts!**


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two: Teachings.

**Learn: to acquire knowledge of or skill in by study, instruction, or experience.**

"The first step is to feel the power within you," Cynder explained. "One method I've heard is useful is to first feel the power outside of you, then bring it in. Try that first."

Nayit and Listron nodded, then she frowned, followed by him. "How," she asked, "are we actually supposed to do this?"

Cynder tilted her head. "Extend your senses. Feel what's around you. It comes on instinct, and is quite shocking when it does, but it will reveal itself to you in time, if you just feel for it. Sense what makes the world around you the way it is, it is the same sort of things that make you who you are."

Nayit tried to expand the feeling in his body outside, but couldn't reach out to what was around him enough. His senses refused to leave his body. Meadow had told him about something certain cheetahs did called meditation, and he closed his eyes and tried to calm himself as his friend had told, in the hope that it would work.

But he felt nothing outside his body. Just the cold snow around his claws, the hard earth beneath them, and the wind, brushing his scales, his horns, his folded wings. It whirled around him, hurling the cold snow around him and into him, before depositing it and continuing on, spiraling upwards into the clouds. He knew that, far above him, it was brushing the tall stone spire and scattering against it, before catching itself again and reforming to spiral down to what it identified as a source.

He felt a renewed gust of wind rush up behind him, and winced slightly, but it was going around him, bursting away as it did so, and suddenly, he wasn't quite so cold. More wind, in a continuous stream, whirled around him, but it didn't chill him as before. Instead, it was like the snow that had been held by it had vanished, and was no longer landing on his scales. The wind surrounded him, but didn't buffet him, and he could feel where it went after it went outwards too.

_Inwards._

Oh yes, he could feel it outside of him, but he felt the wild, free-flowing _spirit_ of the wind within him. It filled most of his consciousness now, giving him a sense of release and relief far greater than anything he had experienced in his life.

The Wind power, he could feel, was swirling around him and everyone else, brushing them fast and hard. Almost simultaneously, they all staggered as he opened his eyes, to see the wind propelling the snow aroung him in all directions. Cynder leant against Spyro, saying quite audibly, "Something isn't right here."

She was more right than she thought. Something was not right; there was still a spot, deep within either his heart, his mind, or both, that was left out by the Wind that filled the other half. All of a sudden, despite the element that Nayit knew was flowing within him as it should, he was afraid. Afraid that something wasn't right inside him. Something wasn't whole. He wasn't right.

The wind picked up around them again, and he saw Listron visibly shiver. "This is scary," she whispered. Her voice was picked up in the spiralling wind, and heard by them all. "I'm scared."

Nayit too felt fear. He felt it rising in his blood, shaking him to the core. His fear was strong enough that he felt as if it was actually coming off him in waves, clear for all to see and feel. And, as if it felt too, he could also sense the fear of his parents and his sister, likewise radiating from them. His fear filled him, as did theirs, filled his very heart and soul, filled the places that the wind hadn't, and became _his_ Fear.

"Nayit's glowing red," Spyro gasped.

And so he was.

And it was the red of his Fear.

The Wind encircled him, as the Fear spread away from him.

Wind and Fear.

Not a bad combination.

* * *

Nayit, who, after his initial burst of being warm at the discovery of his elements, retreated back to the cave, as the defenses caused by the swirling wind wore off quickly. Now, Spyro and Cynder huddled together, the snow picked up, and Listron tried to search for her elements.

It was _hard_.

They'd told her it was likely Ice, and to try to sense it, but she couldn't quite put her paw on it. It was like the snow; with claws, it was impossible to pick it up and throw, much to the humour of the cheetahs, who could and did terrorize the younglings with snowballs. Every time her mind reached out to the Ice, she brushed against it; getting a feel, but without the median through which to reach a greater degree of command and control. She was sure she could do it, she sensed she could do it, but in practice, the ice and snow eluded her.

She needed something she could put her paw on, but she couldn't seem to from the snow. Frustrated, she clenched a fist and swung her paw downwards, not caring for the pricks of pain caused by her own claws. The blow sent loose snow blasting away from the point of origin, now housing Listron's foot. She drummed her claws repetitively on the hard ground. "Why won't this _work_?" she spat, like a cat.

Something flamed up within her, something unexpected. It was strong. It was constant. It was assured, and it assured her that no harm would come from punching the frozen ground again in her rage. So she did so, angry still, forcing as much of the strange new strength as she could into the hit.

Her scales shifted to a clear green, the strike to the frozen ground connected, and a shockwave blew ice off at all angles.

Including over her.

Entirely.

In a pile.

Spyro and Cynder immediately, already being concerned, then shocked, jumped into action, struggling through now-deeper snowdrifts to reach their daughter. But before they could reach her, something surprising happened.

All the snow and ice that piled around their daughter suddenly burst upwards, outwards, exposing her again. Immediately, the two parents halted, each looking to the other.

"Did you do that with Ice?" she asked.

He shook his head. "Was that wind?"

She shook hers.

They looked back, to Listron, to see that her coloration had shifted to blue, and the snow was billowing and spiraling around her, much like the wind had for Nayit.

Then, it settled around her, and her scales went green again as she stomped, sending all the Ice away from her in a blast from the Earth.

"All I needed was strong contact with the Ice," she explained merrily as her scales turned back to normal cyan. "I suppose being buried in all that snow provided that. And just hitting it provided the needed connection with Earth."

After a small silence, Spyro turned to Cynder. "They _both_ have two elements?"

* * *

Back in the cave, Tharusio was listening to tales from Hunter, paying special attention to the bits which included either Fire or Electricity. Frae lay to the side, looking out. The others had only just left. Tharusio looked into the fire as he listened to the stories, some heard from Spyro himself. Years ago, Spyro had wanted to tell them his history and achievements himself, but Cynder had lovingly shouted him down, saying that he'd be too humble. 'Oh, the Golem wasn't all that big,' she'd mimed sarcastically. 'Only about as large as us two put together, right, Cynder? Kind of easy, if truth be told, but someone had to do it.'

So, Spyro had sat down one day, and, while Cynder and Sparx watched over the hatchlings, told both Hunter and Meadow his entire life story. When confronted by Cynder, afterwards, they both promised that in retellings they would spice up the tale as much as they could.

Though, _of course,_ none could spice things up as much as Sparx.

The little dragonfly, between the dark orange dragon and the fire, was non-stop interrupting to add things to what Hunter was saying. "And the moment the apes in the darkness tried to grab me, I punched the leader in the eye, and Spyro unleashed a torrent of flames that engulfed all of them in one fell swoop!"

"That's not how he told it, Sparx," Meadow said. "As I recall, there was fighting before and after-"

"And as I was saying, Ignitus then swooped down and said, 'well done, valiant dragonfly and small dragon! I would like to take you both in as saviours of the world, and train you in fighting! Not you though, dragonfly-you are to valuable to risk by the looks of it! Come with me to-'"

"Even I know that's implausible, Sparx, and you know it too," sighed a wearied Tharusio. Turning to Hunter, he went on, "And you and I both know right now that this isn't helping."

Hunter tilted his head. "Truthfully? You're right."

"Well then, what should I-" Tharusio was cut off by a gust of wind from the entrances, causing them all to shudder and glance away from the fire.

Silhouetted in the entrance to the cave was Nayit. He was grinning like Sparx after a joke.

Everyone stared as he entered the cave, lying in front of the dying fire, still grinning like anything.

"Have you found your element?" Hunter questioned immediately. "What is it?"

Nayit smirked. "Elements, actually." Another breath of wind whistled through the cave. "Can you guess the first one yet?"

"Wind?!" Frae gasped. "Is the other one Fear?"

"How could you tell?" Nayit immediately questioned. "I'm certain I didn't even try to demonstrate that."

"It was the other possibility Dad mentioned," she explained enthusiastically. Nayit rolled his eyes.

"Of course." He walked around the fireplace, placing himself between his brother and sister, but closer to the fire. "It's cold out there."

"Are you surprised?" Tharusio had almost growled, but stopped himself. He didn't want to sound selfish, no matter how irritated he was that he couldn't find his element, and his brother now had two.

"How did you discover your powers, Nay?"

"What do you mean, Frae?"

Frae shrugged. "What did Mum and Dad tell you? Did it work? What did it feel like?"

Nayit nodded his understanding. He started to explain what he'd done, sensing the elements by feeling where they physically connected to him and following them outwards. Frae nodded, enraptured, hanging onto every word.

Tharusio, on the other hand, sighed. There wasn't any fire connected to him. In addition, there wasn't any electricity, but he didn't care too much about that. Fire was the more powerful element. And outside, two of his siblings had been taught first-hand, one of them having discovered two elements. _Two!_ While here he was listening to people talk about the usage and/or discovery of theirs. He shook his head slightly, sorrowfully. He shouldn't think like that. It just happened sometimes.

A burst of wind whirled through the cave, scattering the ashes of the weak fire over Tharusio, who was closest, apart from Sparx, but it had risen over him before settling on Tharusio's scales.

His head snapped around, to face Nayit. "Hey! Watch it!" Thoughts of holding in his anger had vanished. "What was that?!"

Nayit recoiled slightly. "A demonstration! I'm sorry I'm not a master yet, and I didn't see you protesting when Frae put forward the idea!"

**The ashes burnt up on Tharusio's scales.**

"I wasn't concentrating!"

"And whose fault is that?!"

**The ashes burnt into Tharusio's scales.**

"Whose fault is it that you didn't notice? Mister 'Ooh, I've got elements now!' Well, you haven't gained observational skills!"

**The ashes combusted inside him, igniting his very soul with fire.**

"_That's_ what this is about? Elements, of all things? You'll find yours soon enough, surely!" Nayit stepped forwards confrontationally, Tharusio having not noticed that he too had fallen into a fighting stance.

**The fire flickered, spread.**

"You think? You think this is a stupid argument? Well, maybe you should take a look around you before blowing stuff all over me! That was a stupid thing to do!"

**It reached the tips of his claws, sparked into being.**

"As I said, I'm not a master!" Nayit, who now seemed much closer, took a step forwards. "Get out of my face!"

**Flame flickered deep in Tharusio's eyes.**

"You know what, how about you get out of my face?!"

**A tongue of fire flashed in Tharusio's mouth.**

Noticing, Nayit frowned, stepping back, before from the entrance came: "Ice and Earth! Brilliant!"

**The fire reached Tharusio's core.**

He roared at Nayit angrily, and an inferno of Fire burst from his jaws. Panicking, but slightly prepared, Nayit reared away, his breath of Wind scattering the flames seconds before they reached him.

Tharusio froze, shocked. But it was not of his own choice.

Spyro's weak Electricity bolt had not harmed him, but held him in place.

"Tharusio! What were you thinking?!" Cynder scolded. "Attacking your brother like that! Either of you could have got hurt!"

**Tharusio wasn't listening. Electricity coursed through his veins.**

"If he hadn't used his element, he might have been toasted!" Spyro joined in. "Especially when you yourself could have overexerted and drained yourself of energy too!"

**Electricity coursed through his blood.**

"And there isn't a reason for you to attack him anyway, even without the risks!" Cynder spat. "Hunter, what exactly happened here?"

**Electricity reached his heart, and went outwards.**

Power flickered across Tharusio's scales. Electric power, even as fire burnt in his mouth. Everyone stared.

"Even though you did just attack me," Nayit said in a hushed tone, "That's pretty cool."

* * *

After sorting out the dispute, which ended with a hug, a glance around the cave revealed that Frae wasn't there. All but Sparx and Meadow went out to look for her. The snow made it hard, but Nayit, who seemed the most desperate of all the hatchlings to find their sister, let lose a gale somehow, sending all the snow in the air temporarily spiraling out of the way. It returned seconds later, but the slight clarity revealed Frae, on the same ridge as the rest, some way off.

It also revealed, spiraling above in ready ambush positions, a patrol of fifteen Ice dragons.

Everyone gasped, recoiled, even the Ice dragons themselves, apparently orchestrators of the blizzard. They hadn't expected to be caught out. Frae, who they were nearest to, leapt forwards; shouts of warning rang across the snow.

She vanished in a flash. But although most flashes are associated with light, this was a dark flash. A flash of Shadow.

She reappeared in the middle of the group again. Cynder was the only one not to jump, though both she and Spyro jumped a second later, leaving the parting words, "Stay here!"

Hunter stood in front of the group, bow tensed, ready to shoot any attackers. The youngsters huddled behind as the snow fell again, obscuring their views of their parents' fight.

"So, what are your elements, Frae?" Listron asked quietly. "Shadow, certainly, but what else?"

Frae frowned, "Why would I have more than one?"

"We all do," Tharusio said, gesturing around them with his tail. "Fear and Wind, Fire and Electricity, Earth and Ice."

Frae smiled. "Well, I just have Shadow."

"Why just one?" Tharusio frowned.

"Why not? Anyway, it basically amounts to teleportation, so it's much cooler than any of yours."

"Fire is the coolest!"

"Personally, on a technicality, Ice /has/ to be the coolest."

Nayit didn't join the discussion. At the rear of the group, he glanced around warily, looking out for attacks. It was almost five minutes before something actually happened.

A bruised and battered Ice dragon loomed into view, and it was a big one. A grin lit its face up when it saw them. Hunter fired his arrow, but Nayit could tell that the archer was too good for it to go on target on the first shot. He could feel it; the wind was too strong. If Hunter had aimed straight, the arrow, he sensed, would skim past the opponent's neck.

The arrow missed the neck by a millimeter.

As the Ice dragon swooped down at the stunned young dragons, Nayit reared up, taking a deep breath, a torrent of air escaping his jaws and slamming the other dragon away into the swirling mist.

It did not come back, but Nayit knew that meant nothing.

The blizzard was clearing up. He'd had that suspicion before the Ice dragon came into view, but as he fell back onto all fours amongst his siblings, he could easily see that the skies were clearer.

Hunter gave him a thankful nod, then was on the alert again, now regularly wetting and lifting a finger to check the wind direction. All three of the rest, his brother and his sisters, kept edging glances at him. They weren't sure what to make of his reaction.

A short while later, the skies were empty of clouds, dragons, and snow, as Spyro and Cynder landed in front of the five. There were only a few scratches on them.

Of course, Tharusio was the one to break the silence. "Wow! Fifteen of them! I wish I could fight like you two!"

Both his parents winced, but before they could correct him, a voice came from behind him. It was sad to the point of being mournful, and touching when you realised the speaker was mourning his enemies.

"You don't." All eyes fell on Nayit. He elaborated little under the pressure. "Look down."

Tharusio's head tilted, puzzled. Nayit spoke no more.

All the others walked slowly to the edge of the ridge they stood on. It dropped off sharply, becoming one cliff face of a ravine.

And at the bottom, spread across the snow, were fourteen ice-blue bodies, bloodied, scorched, and broken. The youngsters stared in horror and disgust, their parents in sorrow. Slowly, all turned back to Nayit, Listron in particular casting nervous glances at their parents.

"You want to cause that?" he questioned. "Because I don't." He turned and strode away from them, back to the cave.

Behind him, Tharusio stated increduously, "But he didn't even see!"


	3. Chapter 3

**Hey guys! So sorry for the delay, there have been problems. Writer's block, and the second half of my GCSE maths exam is tomorrow. Should be revising, but I got and took the chance to upload. In payment for the terrible delay, I present to you THREE CHAPTERS!**

* * *

Chapter Three: A Flight.

**Cowardice: lack of bravery.**

"Whoa whoa whoa, hold on a second," Tharusio said, "We're just leaving?"

"That's the idea," Hunter replied. Spyro and Cynder remained silent at the head of their convoy.

"And whose genius idea was this? Sparx's?"

"Actually," Hunter tersely replied, "All of the elder five here agreed on this course of action."

"And you agreed because?" Tharusio lashed out with his tail, whacking a small rock away from him. It clattered down the snowy slopes of the valley they were traversing, ending up skimming across the frozen river at the bottom.

"The dragon that saw us," Hunter remarked gruffly, "was larger than all the rest. That means, it's one of the leaders. One of the more intelligent. One of the more powerful. One of the ones that would be able to tell that you were Spyro and Cynder's children, not very experienced, and would report that to his leader. The leader who is intelligent enough to know that we intended to wait out the winter there, and that the hundreds he has at his disposal are more than enough to overwhelm us all. The leader who would willingly send hundreds just to kill us, likely with you lot as priority targets. It's a pity he wasn't killed; that would save us the trouble of all this now."

"Ah." Tharusio nodded, understanding.

The others trailed behind him, silently. Occasionally, Frae or Listron would speak up, or ask a question, but any conversation didn't last long. They all just trudged along the path, led by Spyro and Cynder as they forged a way through the snow.

At the back, Nayit dragged his feet. Meadow walked next to him, often casting concerned glances at the young dragon. He received no response. The off-white dragon stared blankly at the ground in front of him, following the tracks of his family and friends.

They had gone on for three hours like that, without conversation as they traversed the rocky sides to the valley. All but Nayit were astounded by the views of the frozen landscape. Over most winters, they stayed inside. The little they saw was all the same area outside the cave; the cliffs, the ridge, the snow. Seeing actual trees frosted over, as well as the river and the grass, was a great shock as well as a great sight.

Ten minutes past the three hour mark into his thoughts, Nayit took a deep breath, and halted. Eyes closed, he raised his head, muttered something to himself, and opened his eyes. He blinked in the light of what was now the midday sun, and looked around, stunned. Taking in the breathtaking sights, he silently nodded his appreciation, and took a step, his head raised. None of the others had noticed him escape his thoughts. He decided it didn't matter, and had soon caught up with them again.

Several minutes later was the first time someone noticed. Meadow looked down, expecting to see a drooping head and empty expression. Instead, the young dragon at his side had his head held high, an expression of delight on his face as he blew snow ahead of him with his powers. He was attempting to manipulate the wind in different ways, to make it compress what he saw rather than blast it away. Basically, he was trying to make a snowball.

It wasn't going well, as using the right amount of strength to do so was hard to judge. Either the ball would be too weak and fall apart easily, or he used too much power and the ball shattered. Also, to do so in the first place, he'd had to get the ball or clump of snow hovering, or it would just roll along and disintegrate. Once he was done, he planned to blast it towards one of his siblings, or, even better, Hunter. Therefore, the activity was not only a challenge but a rewarding one too, if he got it right!

Meadow jerked in shock at the sight. In fact, he stopped walking entirely, only continuing when Nayit smirked back at him, with a 'what?' expression on his face. The cheetah sprinted quickly, easily catching up, and bent low to speak quietly with the dragon.

"What was all that before?" Meadow inquired. "It wasn't normal from you at all." Nayit shrugged.

"Contemplation, but I won't tell you more than that."

"Why not?"

A sigh. "It's personal, Meadow. I sorted some things out in my head. That's all."

Meadow nodded. "I could have helped, you know."

Nayit just shook his head, ending the protests. Meadow straightened, slightly confused, but pleased that the young dragon was alright. Nayit went back to trying to form a snowball.

Eventually, after a lot of practice with both holding something up in front of him and compression from different angles, he had two snowballs levitating in front of him. He had tested them with his claws, as he had with the rest, and they were neither too hard nor too soft. Grinning slightly, he decided to instigate a bit of confusion, not to mention a snow-fight.

He concentrated hard on the ball of air he was already whirling around in front of him. Inside it were the two snowballs; he tried to separate the wind into two spheres, one for each. They separated, but the snowballs didn't go with them. Nayit sighed, guessing he was in for a bit more hard work.

After that, he ignored the dropped snowballs. Wind would pick up a large clump of snow in front of him, encased in a sphere, and he would try to split it down the middle. Sometimes it worked; others, the spheres would fall apart upon separating; still other times, the snow fell out and the spheres weren't strong enough.

It wasn't the technique that was wrong; it was the execution, he knew that much. He just needed practice. After twenty tiring minutes, he could safely say that most of the times he could get the balance of control and power right to separate a lump of snow. After that, he focused his efforts on making them into good snowballs simultaneously. Fourteen failed attempts and twenty-eight bad snowballs later, he managed it.

The temptation to just fire them straight away was immense. However, he wanted to be a bit trickier than that. Dropping the snowballs, he lifted a clump of snow again, certain that he'd got it right.

And right it was. The snow separated into two easily, but he chose to only compress one this time. Though it was harder doing different things with each Wind Sphere, he managed it first time with a bit of concentration.

Glancing to his left, he said, "Hey, Meadow?"

"Yes?" The cheetah looked downwards. Nayit was holding the snowball and the loose snow above the plain white ground, so the cheetah didn't notice them. "What is it?"

"What's that?" Nayit gestured behind Meadow with a paw, then caught himself. The talking and the gesture had lost his concentration, and the snow nearly fell, but he held it up again.

Meadow turned to look behind him, mouth open to speak.

A pile of loose snow slammed into his right paw, most of it falling off, but leaving a telltale white smudge.

He jerked his hand upwards, staring at it, as Nayit moved his second Sphere of wind in front of him to aim.

The burst of wind that left his jaws powered the snowball straight, strongly, right on target...

It smacked Hunter on the shoulder.

Nayit looked up to Meadow, who stared, shocked, at the other cheetah, hand still raised and coated in white.

Nayit's plan came to fruition.

Hunter growled playfully, scooping up a snowball and throwing it at Meadow. The healer was too shocked to even dodge, and it hit him on the arm.

Meadow immediately grabbed a large clump of snow, attempting to drop it on Nayit. But the white-red dragon laughed, surprising all but Meadow, and bounded forwards, away from the frustrated cheetah. He darted past his sisters, Meadow on his heels, before turning. The cheetah cried out in victory, throwing the snow in his hands at Nayit. However, the dragon blasted it back, into both his face and Listron's. They both recoiled; Nayit spun, smacking snow off the floor and onto them with his tail.

But, guessing who'd really hit him, Hunter seized another clump of snow, quickly making it into a ball. He hurriedly threw it at a now-stationary Nayit, but didn't aim very well. It clipped Tharusio's head.

And when Frae dumped a load of snow over Listron's back as well, it turned into an all-out duel.

Both Meadow and Listron wanted vengeance on the fleeing and laughing Nayit, and they nodded to each other, before chasing after him as a team. Frae pursued them, as he raced along the ledge, past Hunter and Tharusio, who were having their own battle. Meadow was accidentally hit by a clump from Tharusio; he turned and threw the two snowballs he'd made at the young dragon. They disappeared in a blast of fire.

Ahead of them, Listron chased after her brother. She too had been surreptitiously practicing her elements; a snowball shot from her maw, but was a second later blasted back by wind from his.

Blasted all over her face.

She growled, grinned competitively, and rushed forwards, bounding towards him. He jumped higher up the steep slope, avoiding a flurry of snowballs, then jumped back down, forming another of his own as he did so.

Their elements clashed, but it was child's play.

Down the pathway, Hunter and Meadow were ganging up on a tiring Tharusio. He would blast fire at any projectile, but was tiring fast. The last straw for him came when Frae pushed a large proportion of the snow on the ridge above them down onto his head. His teeth chattered with the cold when he struggled out of it, only to see the two cheetahs standing above him, Frae too, snow at the ready. He flinched back, charging down the pathway. They set off in pursuit.

When, however, Frae appeared out of the shadows ahead of him, as well as two snowballs narrowly missing him from behind, he already knew it was over. What he didn't know, however, was just how over it was. As they closed in on him, and he crouched down, glancing from one side to the other and preparing to dodge, but none of them could dodge the shadow in the sky that, when they looked up, was a massive cloud of snow held up by the wind magic of a black dragoness.

Cynder grinned, gleaming teeth showing, and let it drop over all of them.

It was about thirty seconds of struggling through the sparkling white snow before Tharusio broke free, to see Hunter and Meadow, who hadn't quite been buried, standing, covered, with their arms crossed. They were glaring at his mum, who was hovering in front of them.

"What," Cynder asked sarcastically, "Aren't parents allowed to have fun?"

Tharusio just smiled, accepting of their defeat. Glancing around, he saw a struggling black shape under the snow a way away; he breathed a tongue of flame on the ground ahead of it, melting some of the snow away, and Frae burst out seconds later.

"Thanks," she said, panting, and he nodded to her, grabbing a log from the mess around them and lighting it with his fire breath. The fire quickly melted the ice and evaporated the water, making the wood catch easily. It quickly warmed the two up, burning away the cold that attacked their bodies as they turned their backs to the adults' discussions and curled around the fire.

When they regained the ability to move easily, Tharusio doused the flame with a pile of snow, and they followed where the adults had gone; along the path again. They caught up to them, laughing, next to a sheepish looking purple dragon and two half-buried dragons, one white-red, the other a blue-green cyan.

"Look," Spyro was saying, "I didn't think it would be quite this much!"

Later that day, after a rest, Hunter was sent to scout back their trail. He would find them again only by the directions; "We're heading north, not sure where quite yet, but if anything angling slightly north-east. Be somewhere high in that direction by sunrise, if you can't find us; but you should, just follow out tracks."

So, with a short farewell, the calm and assured cheetah left them. It seemed less secure, travelling without his ever-vigilant protection.

It also meant that Sparx could talk without the constant rebuttals he would receive from Hunter. Meadow wasn't as harsh as the tough warrior.

The snow started to lose it's wonder as the day wore on. They seemed to force their way through it rather than walk through. It seemed to stick and freeze to their scales rather than brush off. The cold got to them more than before, too, and the way the snow rested on bare branches seemed more depressing than it did mystical.

A mood descended over the group, a dampened mood compared to the cheerful atmosphere of the snow fight earlier. They halted after crossing several valleys, all eerily similar under the snow, and stayed the night huddled together under a thick oak tree.

Spyro, Cynder, and Meadow kept watch in turns. Cynder took the firt watch, after Spyro had melted a patch of snow for her.

It was a long time before anything of note happened. The hoots of owls, hunting in the snow as well as they could, came through the trees to her ears. Nightly creatures' wanderings were also heard. In a few minutes, she was attuned to them; she could listen, and only notice anything unusual or out of place around her. Meanwhile, her thoughts turned to her children.

As magical creatures, dragon eggs take far longer than most creatures'' to develop enough to be laid. A full year and a half, in fact. Hence, it had been three years since their flight from Warfang that Spyro and Cynder's children had been laid. It also took an elongated time period for them to hatch; six months. She had been eighteen when she laid them; thirteen years had passed since, making her thirty. She had fought for evil, been defeated, trained for good, run away, been chased after, fought an ape king, been trapped in a crystal, been woken up to find a Golem, been rescued, saved a village, saved a city, helped to save the world, fallen in love over the course of all that, returned to the city she'd saved, been cast out by one of those who trained her, had kids, and been hunted for fifteen years.

And yet still the most shocking moment of her life had been when Nayit had confronted her and Spyro about training.

Since then, she had been working out different methods of teaching the hatchlings her elements, as, she suspected, had Spyro. But she had never expected each of them to use their skills as freely and quickly as they did now, especially so soon. She figured it came more naturally to them, as they were born with their elements. Hers were forced upon her; though Shadow, she suspected, was her natural element. It felt right, and every week she seemed to find something slightly different that she could do.

Frae was like her, in that sense. Simply a natural with the Shadow ability.

Nayit had impressed her with his control over wind too. She was sure it would take a lot of practice for her to form snowballs, rather than just picking up large, loose clumps of snow.

Tharusio knew when to use his powers, alright. However, he did appear to have a preference to Fire over Electricity; an imbalance that would have to be worked out of him. Spyro would have to do a few demonstrations.

As for Listron... As her scale colour suggested, Earth or Ice, she was partial either way. And both of hers were equal in power.

So, the choice they had was, would they teach their children all they knew, or simply the basics, and leave the rest as their own techniques to develop?

A twig snapped, and she span away from her train of thought, blinking and glancing around.

Two amber eyes peered from shadows in a thick bush. With a rustling, a dark shape, her size, emerged from the bush and quickly sprung away, hissing. She immediately and instinctively bounded after it.

Tearing through the forest, two dark forms sped past the thick trunks, one chasing the other. Cynder was quickly gaining as they raced up a slope; the other dragon wasn't nearly as agile. Enthralled by the speed of the chase and her own beating heart, she picked up speed, her claws tearing into the ground below. The dragon ahead glanced back, fear lighting up his eyes.

Cynder grinned as she closed in on the helpless enemy. Then, she faltered, as her train of thought took a strange turn.

The Ice dragons didn't feel fear.

Her speed was still the same as she puzzled it out, but her reflexes were lessened. In just one more glance, the figure noticed, and glowed green temporarily before smashing its tail into the ground.

A wall of Earth shot up in front of Cynder's nose. Caught unawares, she only had time to pull up slightly before hitting her snout, hard.

Her head span. She sat down on her hind legs, hard, trying to shake the dizziness out of her head. Memories whirled around, darting out of nowhere, confusing her. Yet through it all, cold logic remained in a question that rang through her thoughts.

_That wasn't an Ice dragon. It was an Earth dragon. So why was it spying on us?_


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four: Comet Dashes and Siren Screams.

That morning, they set off again. Cynder had returned and said nothing of the occurrence with the strange dragon that had gotten away. It was hard to notice any scars or bruises on black scales anyway, and though Listron did notice, she passed it off as a wound she'd not seen before.

The incident passed unknown.

Before the youngsters had woken up, Spyro had flown up on a scouting mission, looking for Hunter. But there was no sign of the reliable cheetah. That by itself was a large cause for concern; now, Spyro feared they were being followed. If Hunter couldn't be where he said...

At about midday, he called a halt to their travels. They had reached a large clearing in a small, forested valley. The others assembled around him and Cynder. Most of them looked confused, Nayit was grinning, and Cynder had already guessed what was going on.

"Alright, you lot," Spyro said, "there's been enough fooling around. We've let you discover your elements, sure, but you know nothing but the basics of how to use them. So, this stage of the day will be spent with us coaching you on your use of elements."

"Remember, though, what we know is not the be-all and end-all," Cynder instructed. "Your own techniques and uses of powers may turn out to be even more powerful than ours, if you create good methods of your own. Don't let us hold you back."

With that, the group divided into two. Cynder took Nayit and Frae to one side, while Spyro took Listron and Tharusio. Meadow and Sparx sat in the middle of the clearing, glancing between the two.

Spyro started, "This training is important and must be taken seriously. The skills you learn or devise yourself shell likely be instrumental to you in fighting, and many other aspects of life. Okay? Good, so show me what you can do already. Listron, you first. Tharusio, practice to the side and see what you can do while she demonstrates."

The two nodded, Listron stepping forwards. She took a breath, and looked to him for permission to start. He nodded.

First, she opened her jaws and shot a snowball at a tree. From the snowball, she progressed on to a cloud of liquid ice, which curved around the trunk and covered it in a blue sheen. Then, her paw glowed green, and she punched the ground. A column of earth shot up in front of her. She opened her mouth after that, a bullet of earth shooting out and smashing against the frozen tree, weakening it dramatically. And all the while, Spyro watched, evaluated.

When she was done, and she looked to him, he commented. "Well, you have a good grasp of three basic attacks so far, and a snowball. That's good to know as a starting point, and should serve you well in a combat situation. However, more powerful and widespread attacks need to be added to your repertoire, as well as simple melee fighting skills and evasion. Despite this, however, your strength seems to be mainly in your elements, so they are what you should focus on developing for now. If your opponent can't get near you, there's no need to hit them, right?"

She acknowledged his words meekly, taking them into account, and now Tharusio stepped up in her place as she went off to practice a bit.

"Show me what you can do," Spyro grinned, and Tharusio was concentrating too hard to even nod as he launched straight into a sequence.

First came a large burst of vivid orange fire, short, but wide, and then Tharusio sprang through the blistering flames, swinging his claws. Fire burned around them, and he struck the tree where it was already weakened from Listron's attacks.

The wood around the blow sizzled with the heat in the cold winter air, and the tree began to look unstable. Spyro sighed, slamming his paw heavily into the ground. Pillars of Earth came up around the tree, holding its top half in place. He looked at Tharusio again, and said, "Carry on, but don't kill the tree this time."

Tharusio looked down, sheepishly. "That was all," he muttered.

"That was all?! What about Electricity? You have two elements, you know." Spyro was slightly put out at his son's lack of concern for his second element.

Tharusio just shrugged. "Fire's more powerful, isn't it? I don't see the point of electricity."

Spyro frowned. "How so?"

"Well, it isn't so destructive as Fire, is it? Or as strong as Earth, or as immobilizing as Ice. As far as I can see, it just isn't up to scratch." Spyro sighed, annoyed at Tharusio's single-minded thought train.

"Tharusio, attack me."

Tharusio blinked. "Seriously?"

"Yep. Just slash with your claws." Tharusio shrugged, then did so. The moment he made contact, he recoiled, shocked. In more ways than one.

Electricity poured into his paw, making him pull away before he'd even scratched the surface of a single scale. After a moment licking his paw to make the strange tingling sensation go away, he looked up at Spyro, to see that the area just around him was glowing very slightly yellow.

"This is a defensive mechanism, used in melee combat, but it can also help you to attack. As shocked as you were, you would have been unable to resist my attacks. Now, step away slightly, and try again with an elemental attack." Tharusio did as he was asked, stepping away from his father, who was about three times his size. Then, after a nod, a stream of fire shot towards the purple dragon.

Immediately, a sphere of Electricity bust into being around Spyro, and it absorbed the power of Tharusio's attack. The young, brown-red dragon gasped in shock and awe, as sparks flew out in bolts of electricity. They radiated out from the sphere, in every direction but his.

Then, the Electric Sphere collapsed in on itself, leaving Spyro grinning at Tharusio. "Electricity can also be used as a ranged attack, to stun your enemy, and allow you closer to move a more powerful technique, but I don't want to paralyze you just yet." Spyro grinned. "Electricity a bit cooler now?"

"Definitely!"

"Good. Now, the two of you both, come here." Listron trotted up from where she had been watching, impressed, and Tharusio came closer. "I noticed with you two that you have already begun to develop distinctly different styles of fighting. Tharusio, you mainly rely on getting up close and using your strength. Listron, your strength is in your magic, and you can use it from a variety of distances to a good effect. However, at closer ranges, its use might be limited, and at longer ranges, it would be easy to avoid, so it is best if you stick to mid-range fighting; keeping the enemy the length of their own body away from you. That means that you will have more time to dodge, and they less. You should use tactics to make your opponent do things you expect them to, anticipate that, and plan ahead." She nodded, understanding, and Spyro looked to Tharusio.

"On the other hand, the tactics you should employ include getting up close whilst attacking, attacks to put your enemy off balance, or stun them, and fast attacks that are hard to dodge. To do that, I have one major suggestion; a Comet Dash. Have you seen what happens when comets trail across the sky?"

Tharusio nodded. There had been a meteor shower that he and his siblings snuck out to watch a couple summers ago. It had been incredible.

"Well, think of that, around a dragon." Spyro grinned at Tharusio and Listron's awestruck expressions.

"But how? Surely that would hurt!" Tharusio cried incredulously.

The large purple dragon merely smiled down at him, turned to the side, dug his claws into the ground and sprang forwards, fire blazing up all over him as he shot around twenty feet forwards, before he stopped and the fires died down. He turned, and, rather than walking back, just did exactly the same thing again.

He skidded to a halt in front of two awestruck young dragons staring like hatchlings.

"Tharusio, go and see if you can practice that for a while, alright? It doesn't matter if you get it right immediately, just see what you can do." Tharusio nodded and headed off. "Listron, I intend to teach you a few techniques for when you may be out of your comfort zone. That being, close-range fighting and the like. With your technique, it is best for you if your close combat is powerful and devastating, and allows you to get out of the situation quick. There are two techniques to do with that which I shall teach you right now. Each of them is with one of your elements, so you will have to concentrate." Listron bowed her head. "Look up, Listron, I need to show you." She raised her head, met his eyes, and her determination to prove herself was clear.

"Good. Now, the first technique is Earth Sphere. For this, you focus on your earth power inside you. You feel it, sense it; then, you push it outwards. Try it." She bobbed her head in understanding.

A green light glinted in her eyes, her scales shifting to that colour as she focused on the Earth. Spyro grinned as he saw that her grasp on the power came quickly; he did wonder about the talent, however. What would she do on her first try?

The start was impressive. Earth started to form around her, bulging away from her scales. It quickly expanded, encompassing all of her body.

While it looked like a good result, and almost certainly felt like one to Listron, Spyro guessed that she'd made the typical beginner's mistake. Testing his theory, he fired a weak Earth Bullet into the side, so that it should just glance off, but instead, the thin layer of Earth was shattered like so many broken dreams. Spyro sighed as Listron fell to the floor.

"It was a decent attempt, to be sure, but it was unsteady. You need to maintain a constant speed at which the Earth is enlargening, or the parts in the middle will be far weaker than they should be due to the strain, and any hit with a reasonable amount of power will shatter the whole thing. This is something for you to improve with practice; I cannot simply give you more advice and explain everything. You have to learn some things yourself. Practice it when you can."

She nodded enthusiastically, seemingly about to try again, but Spyro shook his head.

"Not yet, I want to show you the other technique first."

"Hey! Not fair, she gets to learn two?!"

Spyro sighed. He should have predicted as much from Tharusio. "Alright then, have a go at this one." And with that, he opened his maw and shot a bolt of electricity into the ground before Tharusio, who jumped back, shocked, though not literally of course. Earth didn't conduct electricity. Tharusio grinned up at him, an expression which Spyro returned.

"Cool!"

"Yep, now you try." And Tharusio moved away again to practice Electricity. Spyro turned back to Listron. "Now, this technique is, similarly, one which is good for close quarters, though this is better against multiple enemies. It also helps to deflect projectile attacks such as Icicles and Earth Bullets. It is called Ice Hurricane..."

"Well, what can you do already?" Cynder got straight to the point. "You first, Frae."

Her daughter grinned, then jumped on the spot and vanished abruptly. Nayit jumped too when she burst from the snow-covered ground next to him like some fast-growing shoot that mistimed Spring. Frae moved away from him a bit, jumping into the shadows again, and when she emerged, shadowy claws flashed outwards around her. She slashed the space in front of her with her real claws, shadows coming from them like a whip and cracking loudly in the air. Then, she opened her mouth, and billowing blackness rushed out, before sitting down neatly in front of her mother and grinning.

Cynder nodded. "Good technique. You seem to be suited for the type of sneak attacks that your opponents won't expect, ones with power and speed. Something that may help you is controlling shadows that aren't made by yourself." Behind Cynder, shadows poured from a hole in a tree, and rose up, coiling around and around. "They can be used as distractions," Cynder said, making them tap her on the back of the head, "or weapons," and the shadows became a large sword and swung towards her, dissipating seconds before contact. "Try to do this yourself, Frae, and know that I have no doubt that you will succeed. You have a great natural instinct for your element."

Frae smiled enthusiastically. "Thanks mum! This is brilliant!" And with that, she leapt into shadows again, emerging a short distance away, among the trees.

"Now it's your turn, Nayit," Cynder stated. He nodded, and closed his eyes.

A cold breeze brushed past Cynder's scales, quickly intensifying to a gale. It came from Nayit, and she saw the snow around him stirring as she stepped back slightly from the force. He opened his eerie red-white-purple eyes, and the Wind cut off. A sphere of it suddenly formed ahead of him, in the snow, before lifting, compressing, and a gust of snow from his mouth blew the newly-formed snowball towards her. She dodged it, a playful smile crossing her face, but a wider burst of wind slightly staggered her again. Then, Nayit did something that she'd never thought she would see; something so strange that she would have had to see it to believe it. He opened his mouth slightly, a tiny gust of Wind coming out, then opened it more, Wind now billowing out of the top, bottom, and sides of his mouth, but not through the centre. And it kept getting bigger, enlargening, and it was like he was blowing a massive bubble of wind, until he narrowed his mouth to what it had been before, and the bubble was separate to him, and massive, in fact, it was her size-

Befor she had time to react, before she had time to even register what was happening, he'd blown it forwards.

The strange bubble of wind quickly covered her, causing a strange sensation of pressure wherever it touched her scales. It blew at her eyes, her nose, the soles of her feet.

And that was when Cynder realised he'd lifted her into the air.

She gaped down at her son, baffled that he'd managed that, before spreading her folded wings. The force they exerted broke the Wind Bubble, and she only just managed to flap hard enough to keep from falling. The sudden strain it put on her wings was akin to pulling out of a dive.

Cynder looked around, to see Nayit looking triumphant, Frae, Meadow, and Sparx shocked, and Spyro, Tharusio and Listron to busy training to even notice.

After taking a few deep breaths to regain her composure, she said, "Carry on."

Nayit nodded. He too took a breath, before slashing out quickly with his claws. A strange, red glow covered them, and Cynder could tell that anyone to be hit would meet their worst nightmare and freeze in shock. He lunged forwards with a bite, the same glow flashing from his teeth, and went for a headbutt, Fear energy lacing all five of his horns. From there, he sat down, looking up at Cynder. She frowned, more at herself than him, for believing that he would be capable of more.

"That, Nayit, was quite an incredible variety of powers! I've never even dreamt of some of those!" Cynder was undeniably enthusiastic. "Your combat style is an effective one; you seek to put your opponent off-balance, so you can dart in and critically injure them with ease. This comes across clearly in the moves you've devised. Your Fear element should help with that, but as it is, you only know physical techniques of conveying it. Attempt this," she said, and she opened her mouth.

An ear-piercing shriek, accompanied by shockwaves of red light, split the eardrums of every dragon, cheetah, and dragonfly in the vicinity, along with several rabbits, two woodpeckers and a deer. Each shuddered, apart from Cynder and Spyro, the latter of which had developed a certain resistance to it over the years. When Nayit managed to prise open his tightly-shut eyes, he blinked, surprised to see his mother looming over him. Not that she didn't normally, of course, but she had been further away before. He scowled at her, and she grinned, stepping away.

"That was Siren Scream. It is used against multiple opponents, and to stun enemies from a distance, and can be useful to get the edge on enemies when you can't reach them or affect them much. However, it can be detrimental to your allies when fighting in a large group, so remember that."

Nayit nodded. "How do I do that?"

Cynder grinned, "Remember? It's quite simple, if you put your mind to it." The response was a roll of the eyes. "Alright, alright! To produce a Siren Scream, you focus on your Fear element, and try to force waves of it out of your mouth. If done right, you produce the scream, and anyone who hears it will shudder and cower away from the visions of their mind. Understand?"

"I think so," he stated.

"Then give it a go."

A short while of mental preparation later, and Nayit seemed to be ready. He looked up from where he had been staring at the ground, and his eyes seemed to flash red. Cynder didn't even register any movement of his jaw, just the terrifying shriek and blast of light red energy that came out.

Cynder had never heard a Siren Scream used by anyone else before, and it hurt far more than she had guessed. She wanted to curl up and hide away, but settled for clenching her eyes tight shut and covering her head with her wings.

But when she opened her eyes to see Nayit beaming in front of her, and Frae behind him practically sculpting with Shadows, and glanced around at Tharusio shooting bolts of Electricity and Listron glowing green and forming an Earth Sphere, the pride she felt was immense.

They were her children, and they were learning at fantastic speeds.

_They will be great someday,_ Cynder thought,_ and they will certainly make us proud in battles to come. If only training like this was less of a necessity than it already is... If only the world was free of evil..._

A wry grin etched itself over her face. _But then, without that, I couldn't be who I am now, and nor would Spyro. And the way we are now, we're in love. I would rather live in a world full of evil than be without him and, by extension, our children. They are all I need to be happy, and I wouldn't let them go for anything._


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter Five: Hidden Fortress.

The next stage of the day was spent travelling, in relative silence. Heading north-east at a walking pace, the time passed fast. The snow that had fallen was slowly merging, as it always had to eventually, into a depressing slush. As they trudged along, the young dragons would surreptitiously practice their control over their elements, meaning that splats of snowballs on trees, strangely dancing shadows, spinning currents of wind, and footprints burnt into the ground were commonplace along the route.

The orientation of most of the valleys in the area was that they were aligned east-to-west. The majority of the sources were in the east, and the rivers flowed steadily downwards to the west, though they never seemed to join, for some reason. After, they emerged from the valley system to flatter pastures, eventually flowing to a wide range of waterfalls, all pouring off the same cliff face, yet none touching. It was there, according to legend, that the first sons and daughters of the world's makers arose to truly populate the surface with Dragons; the most beautiful place they could have found.

But no one listened to the legends anymore, they had died with those they were about. And the true significance of the orientation of the valleys was that it meant that the group were always going to be heading up or down the steepest slopes in the area. Which, obviously, was going to be tiring. By the time they were three hours into the travelling, the complaints began to ring out.

"It's getting cold."

"My wings are aching!"

"My paws are aching!"

"That's odd, Tharus. Maybe you should stop setting them on fire?"

"Oh stop it, Frae, you say your wings ache, but you know that you don't even have to use your wings when we fly down the steepest parts. You can just use your Shadow teleportation thing-"

"That costs energy you know! It tires me out quick!"

"Tough! Get some stamina and deal with it!"

"Excuse me, but strength and stamina is not my forte! My forte is intelligence, which you seem to lack!"

"Explain!"

"Right, well, for one thing, you need me to explain this to you, and for another, while I complained because of an inevitable sensation caused by overexertion of the wings, you complained because you were burning your own paws. There also seems to be the fact that you treat strength and stamina like they are everything, while I have the intelligence to look at things from a different perspective and see the truth behind that illusion."

"Which is?"

"That it is not strength, but how you apply strength, that matters. And if you apply it to toasting your own paws, then that is an evident indication that I am smarter than you."

"... You know what, you should shut up."

"And the fact that you have no reasoned response or argument just further emphasises my point."

"Seriously, Frae! Shut up!"

"You-"

"Frae, I think you should actually."

"Oh great Nayit, now you're taking his side! I thought you agreed with logic and reason!"

"HA! In your face Frae, even Nayi-"

"You shut up too, Tharusio."

"Give me one good reason!"

"There are hurried movements in the air some distance ahead. They feel like wingbeats, they're directly in our path, over this rise, and there are two large groups, one larger and chasing the other."

And with that good reason, Nayit ended the conversation conclusively.

The four youngsters were now all on the alert, aching wings and slightly browned feet forgotten. They kept their bodies low as their parents, already alerted, crept upwards with caution, they themselves following. The sound of wingbeats was now clearly audible. Someone's claws clicked against a stone on the mainly grassy slope, muffled curses and grunts meaning that none had to glance around to see that it was Tharusio.

The slope mainly consisted of the type of grass that was long, and thin, and grew in clumps, and poked your scales and eyes whenever you were low to the ground. Which, of course, they were. However, despite its disadvantages, the grass provided quite good cover, for all apart from Meadow, who found going on four limbs difficult, especially carrying the immobile Sparx, who, fortunately, had learnt to shut up. So Spyro and Cynder, at the head of the group, soon sent the word back for them to stay where they were. Meadow acknowledged and complied with the orders.

Cynder then gestured the young dragons forwards. They glanced at each other nervously, before quietly catching up to their parents and crowding around, listening.

"Okay," Cynder whispered, "Spyro and I risk exposing ourselves if we go much further. We aren't as small as we were before. If one or two of you four would sneak up there and tell us what's going on, it would help a lot in out preparations."

"What's going on?" Nayit asked, "In what way?"

"How many dragons, what they're doing, where they're headed."

"Right then," Nayit said. "One group of fifteen times as many as there are of us, one of twelve times as many as us, the larger chasing the smaller away from us, the larger being a good deal colder, heading as fast as they can away from us."

All stared at him, shocked as he listed facts with such ease. Spyro was the first to question him. "How do you know that?" Nayit rolled his eyes.

"Part Wind dragon, remember? I sense the beats of their wings."

Spyro looked at Cynder, and said, "We should get moving, then."

She nodded, and they spread their wings, but Tharusio burst out, "Aren't we coming?" Their parents slowly turned, eyes on each other.

It was like they were having a conversation without words, but no one could tell any more than that. Glances were cast in all directions, motions were made with heads, and eventually, both nodded to each other and turned their heads to their children. "You can come," they said in unison.

"Really?!" Tharusio exclaimed.

"Really?" Listron asked. "You only just started to teach us. We don't know how to apply our learning."

Cynder nodded in response. "Really. Experience is the best way to learn, as you gain much more from it. Besides, it's take you with us and defend you ourselves, or leave you here, where you may well be ambushed."

All the siblings glanced around one another. "We'll come," Nayit finally concluded when all the others remained silent. Spyro bowed his head to them in acceptance of their decision, before raising his head high and peering over the rise while rearing up on his hind legs. When he saw whatever was up there, he fell back to all fours, and cast a grinning glance at Cynder, who had, it seemed to the hatchlings, been staring slightly. She narrowed her eyes playfully.

"I'll tell Meadow quickly," she said, avoiding the teasing that she knew was coming, before turning away and leaping down the slope. After a few quick words, Meadow nodded, retreating back towards a nearby wood for cover. Cynder flew back towards the group, practically skimming the ground and landing lightly.

"Shall we go?" she asked, not folding her wings. "If Nayit was right, they must be a way away by now."

Spyro answered, "Yes." Turning to his children, his sons and his daughters, he said, "Remember what we've taught you, okay? Use your instincts, and don't be afraid to run from a stronger opponent if you must."

They all nodded. Nayit's heart was in his mouth, Listron's in her paws, Tharusio's somewhere between his chest and his stomach, but closer to the latter, and Frae's heart was strangely in her eyes, for all to see, and proud.

It was incredible, Spyro thought, how different they were, yet how similar. How he knew each of them, yet they always seemed to surprise him. How young, yet so... developed, in that they each had distinct outlooks that they adhered to and worked with. They were their own dragons.

It was incredible that they were how they were.

It was incredible just how much they'd grown.

And then, they and he were off, Cynder too, over the rise and pursuing two groups of dragons, the larger all ice-blue, the smaller multicoloured, that must have been half a mile away at least, but likely more. The wind soared beneath their wings, seemingly more than ever before, and he looked thankfully to Cynder, but she was looking bewilderedly at Nayit.

The young dragon was gliding and grinning, the wind carrying him and his kin to where he wanted to be; closer to the other dragons. They were catching fast; a quarter, almost a third, of the distance between them seemed to have closed. Finally, when Spyro had decided that flapping was unnecessary when it didn't make him go faster, and he just glided instead, they were halfway to catching up with the enemy, as well as the fleeing dragons before them.

Then, the unnatural wind cut out.

"I was running out of energy! We'll have to just go normally now," came a strained call from Nayit, who now fell slightly behind as all the others adjusted to the fact that they had to flap now, though they quickly got up to speed again, and were soon keeping pace with those ahead.

Now that Spyro had the chance to look around a bit, he saw that they were in a very long, thin valley, heading to a rounded, grey, bulbous, boulder-like rock mountain at the end, towards which both the other groups were heading. A glance back revealed that the other side of the valley was not to far from another, all-too-familiar mountain, volcano even, which after fifteen years still had smoke billowing up around it. Mount Malefor, ominous even now, the ever-present shadow on the horizon as it had been for most of the past fifteen years. None strayed near it, not even the Ice dragons.

In fact, right now both they and the Ice dragons, as well as the unknown group fleeing them, were speeding as fast as they could away from the sight. And Cynder had begun to propel them herself, drawing on her larger reserves of energy to use the wind power which, though slower than Nayit's had been, could still give them a boost and advantage over their opponents, and would also last longer.

Soon, they had made up three quarters of the original distance. It was at that point that Cynder stopped using the Wind to carry them forth, as they were getting closer to their quarry, and would rather not be discovered. Also, the closer range meant that the wind had an affect on the enemy too, making them speed up as well, so it would do them no favours to continue the current any further.

Now, they had made up the majority of the distance that had once been between them and the large rock at the end of the long - almost twenty miles end-to-end - valley. The dragons that their own quarries were chasing - sometimes visible through the mass - were holding their own in the race. As they neared the grey rock at the end, the six dragons noticed that both the groups ahead of them were angling downwards, as if to skim the rock, which now appeared to have multiple ridges and holes on its surface. The first group - which had quite a distance on the second - dived down the other side, successfully evading a volley of Ice shards that were shot behind them and vanishing from view.

Rather than fly above to look at what the dragons were doing, the single-minded Ice dragons made as if to skim the rocks, but were met with a barrage of elements, seemingly emerging from the very rock beneath them. Fire came first, in blazing streams that engulfed many, then, out of separate holes, repeatedly fired Earth Missiles. Bolts of electricity came next, before massive Icicles converged on the more concentrated areas, the whole lot seemingly bursting from every nook and cranny of what Spyro now knew was a fortress.

The Ice dragons screeched, recoiled, and fell, though those to the rear and top of their formation seemed to have been protected by their comrades' deaths. They recoiled away, as about sixty - the vast majority - fell, dead or injured by the surely powerful attacks. The thirty remaining seemed to be confused about what to do, before several of them seemed to notice the oncoming dragons that had been watching in puzzlement, and after a few roars, the thirty were soon charging at the six dragons that made up Spyro and Cynder's family.

The two parents, obviously, sprang straight into the mix against the first set of fighters. Ten at least were engaged with them, more catching on afterwards, but they couldn't distract them all, and two each went for Tharusio and Listron, three each for Frae and Nayit.

* * *

Tharusio panicked in the face of the enemy, hovering in place, but instinct reared its head as twin streams of liquid Ice converged on him directly from the front. A short, yet wide, burst of Fire burst from his maw, meeting the Ice and forcing it back. As his enemies flew forwards, coming in towards him, he moved too, beating his wings strongly. He raised his paws; Fire flickered around his claws.

Eyes wide as collision seemed inevitable; each Ice dragon fired a small icicle at him, raising their own claws at the same time for close combat. He gave a powerful flap of the wings, raising him above their air-borne lunges and the projectiles, and, with timing borne of years of playfighting his siblings, slashed through the shoulders of both with his fiery claws as he shot between them.

The winced away as he shot between them, and they attempted to separate and come at him from different directions. But he knew that they would likely do so, and that he would be overwhelmed fast if they managed to work together against him, so he immediately swept right after completing the slashes, intending to take one of them out fast. He ended up just glimpsing the other dragon before crashing into it; both his opponents were his size, or possibly slightly larger, so he figured that it had got a similar glimpse of him.

Wings tangled in those of his opponent - who was giving off a noticeable chill - Tharusio struggled to get his claws around into a good place to strike, or his maw into a good position to torch his opponent. Their wings were awkwardly wrapped around the others', they were back to back; the spines on their backs dug into their scales and let blood flow, mixing as the gravity of the plunge they were going into caught hold. They were both in a freefall and a stalemate; neither could escape, neither could attack, and still the cold chill from the other dragon lessened his ability and mobility.

And what rectified the cold?

The blazing heat.

Tharusio focused power, focused Fire, into his scales. From what he could see of himself when he glanced at his legs, he was glowing an eerie red. The other dragon shuddered, but a wave of cold attacked Tharusio in return as they still tumbled, and he knew it would not be enough.

He could tell it was the only way out of the situation, but he almost didn't have the courage to do what he did. The Fire within came without. The heat on his scales became _more._ The air around became the_ Fire_ around, and even as the other dragon whirled away from him in an Ice Hurricane, his Comet Dash peeled away as well. However, their uncontrolled fall had meant that he only just managed to pull up before the ground was a few feet below him. However, he ignored it and soared upwards fast, spinning and looking around. The dragon he hadn't engaged yet was circling downwards towards him; the previous adversary, doing the same as Tharusio.

He and the dragon he had been fighting before raced at one another again, no concern for the one above. Fangs bared and claws outstretched, elements temporarily ignored, they crashed together, each set of forepaws struggling against the other, jaws snapping, necks writhing, and the force of the crash swung their rear paws together too. All their claws locked together; their wings still pulled them upwards; almost as one, their heads reared backwards, and Fire and Ice poured out, meeting in the middle and causing an explosion of steam, blowing them apart and, seemingly, blowing its way right through Tharusio, for he felt a slight chill of a kind which he had never felt before. It was strange, and it seemed to vibrate its way through his entire body and mind; it set him off balance. But he didn't have much time to think about that as he soared backwards.

Flailing around in the air and trying to regain control over his flight, Tharusio got a glimpse of something above - or at any rate with a cloud behind it - coming towards him, fast, and it was a dragon. An Ice dragon. A large Ice dragon.

When he'd managed to get his wings under control, through a lot of twisting one way, then the other, to even out his spiral, he glanced up, to find the dragon that had been circling above was almost upon him. He released a bolt of electricity from his jaws, which both struck and paralyzed the attacker, who cried out in pain whilst shaking in midair, before his wings folded and he plummeted to the ground, past Tharusio. A loud crack was heard, and Tharusio shuddered, knowing that, for the first time, he had taken a life.

He glanced around for the other dragon, but saw nothing in any direction, and, shrugging, turned his wings and his gaze upwards, rushing towards the rest of his family.

* * *

Listron flashed blue, and deflected both the shards of Ice and the current that had been sent towards her by her two opponents by going into an Ice Hurricane. She came out of the hurricane quickly, backing off from her opponents, one of whom came a bit too close before raising his neck to strike. She thrust her neck towards her opponent, releasing an Earth Missile, too close to avoid, too strong to block; at her perfect range, as Spyro had said.

The projectile hit the shoulder, though she had been aiming for the neck; Either he had flinched away, she guessed, or her aim was off. Either way, it seemed to have broken his shoulder and at least damaged his wing muscle; he tossed his head back, roaring in pain, leg bent away from his body, wingbeats becoming strained. She fired again, moving backwards slightly as his momentum moved him towards her, and the result landed on the other shoulder, but higher; crushing the wing joint and injuring, maybe dislocating, the shoulder joint.

The dragon fell like a stone.

Listron turned to the other, closing her eyes and twisting her head to avoid a shower of small icicles that were spread wide enough through the air that some had been bound to hit her. They each penetrated a short way into her scales, making her wince, but the real damage was to her wing membranes, which she couldn't fly without. There were only a few holes, but it was enough to unbalance her.

Looking back to her opponent, she was only just able to form another Ice Hurricane and deflect what was coming for her; an almost identical attack to the former. She frowned. It seemed that her opponent had little else in her repertoire; though what she had was, admittedly, effective.

Listron charged forwards, trying to get the other within her range, but, backing off, another volley was shot at the cyan dragoness. The other dragoness was keeping her three times her own body length away, and she could not get close enough for an attack that would not be easily dodged.

She opened her mouth in an attempt to form an Earth Missile, but, half-way through, was struck by an idea, and forced more energy into the earth power, before forcing it forwards and outwards. A shower of small - but still quite large, large enough to hurt - rocks burst from her jaws, smashing into her opponent in an attack eerily similar to her own. Under the cover of the attack, and the fact that the dragoness had winced away, Listron moved forwards, but it was not long before the dragoness - bruised, but not cut - recovered enough to look up. Upon her doing so, Listron released the Ice Shard she'd been charging - straight at the Ice dragoness's neck.

The shard was sharper than the stones had been, and it went deep into the scales - right on target. The dragoness screeched, head falling back, then body falling down as Listron turned, shrugging off the shame she felt and plunging back towards the heart of the battle.

* * *

Frae ducked as two of her three opponents swooped at her, each missing her head or neck, but only just, as she spun away. They regrouped, in a V formation, and flew directly towards her. She bared her fangs; it was something between a grin and a snarl, but even she wasn't sure which. Then, she struck.

Lashing out with her claws, a string of black shadows curled out, snapped forwards; whipped around the leading dragon's neck. She pulled the shadows to her, and the enemy dragon with them; he was greeted as he hurtled uncontrolled by a burst of Shadow Fire, before she released all the shadows and a blackened body fell out of the shadows that had consumed it.

The other two didn't hesitate before charging towards her. The one on the right, she extended a paw towards; a paw immersed in writhing darkness. The darkness shot out, a fatal spear, crashing through the Ice dragon's light blue chest and coming out the other side. The dragon didn't have time to scream before joining his fallen comrades covering the rock fortress below.

As for the last attacker, she grinned at him as his frozen claws were raised; he panicked, as much as an Ice dragon could, wincing away and giving her an opening. With the other paw this time, though likewise covered in her element, she struck, shadow-reinforced claws tearing through the scales and flesh of the Ice dragon's neck. They tore the whole way through; the third was dispatched. Frae looked around, searching for a fourth, and finding the fourth and several others surrounding her parents.

* * *

Nayit stared down his opponents with his eerie gaze, causing them to shudder without him even using his Fear ability. Whilst they flinched away slightly, he accelerated towards the three quickly, causing them to roar and fire a variety of different projectiles at him. He still flew, overly fast, propelled by the Wind he had conjured up, which blasted all the projectiles away from him the moment they got near him.

They panicked and scattered, still shooting at him as they did so, but still the Wind around him threw any projectiles away as he sped towards one of them. That one bared his teeth, seemingly sensing that it would be necessary to fight Nayit physically. Behind the reddish-white dragon, the two others raised their claws.

He angled to the side, avoiding the bite and lashing out with a single paw. Streaks of red energy trailed from his claws, and they latched onto the dragon as Nayit's claws slashed lightly through the scales and into the dragon's shoulder. The Ice dragon's eyes widened, his pupils dilated, his wings froze up, and he trembled visibly as he started a long fall to the floor. Turning sharply, already exhaling, Nayit's opponents were met with an expressionless face and a quickly formed Wind Bubble, as he had previously used training with his mother. They couldn't halt their charges, and ended up inside the Bubble.

Using the skills he learned compressing snowballs, Nayit shrunk the Bubble around them, making sure they couldn't puncture the sides. Their wings folded into awkward positions, their legs pressed to their bodies, both dragons crushed together. Then, Nayit flew next to them, knowing they could be neither saved nor freed, holding them in place still with the Wind, and one by one slashed their throats out.

He headed up and to the right next, to where his parents had been set upon by twenty or so Ice dragons. There were just a dozen now.

* * *

After a short while of fighting, Spyro finished off their last opponent, as Tharusio, the last to arrive, met the rest of the group. His injuries, a line of spike marks on his back, were the worst of any of the hatchlings, but it seemed he had given as much as he'd got; his own spines were drenched in blood too, blood which was trailing down and mixing with his own. The wounds weren't fatal, anyway; the only way a blow to the back was deadly was if it was poisoned, penetrated the ribcage, or hit the spine. Tharusio's own spikes guarded the spine, and the other options were impossible and impractical to apply to your spines; no dragon in their right mind would attack with them.

After a quick glance over his family, Spyro looked away, to see the sixty dragons that had been fleeing their icy opponents staring at the six of them in shock.

As the two groups faced off, none noticed a young, red dragon, maybe twelve years of age, quite large and heavily built, lying confusedly somewhere on the valley floor, his blood and that of another mingling on his back, and some of it draining into his bloodstream through the line of holes next to his bloodied spikes.

He shivered suddenly, feeling a strange imprint of a soul in the back of his mind. Three hundred feet above, Tharusio was feeling the exact same thing.

**WTF, what a place to end a chapter! What does this mean? This strange dragon? Somehow freed from the Ice? Who knows what's going on?! It could be anything... That I decide. Evil laughs are outdated, but "MWAHAHAHAHA!" anyway! Sorry, but I really like confuzzling people. It's so fun!**


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